tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post3885932393672372514..comments2024-03-05T19:50:31.497-08:00Comments on World O' Crap: Cinema ParadisoScotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02798340582589737829noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-55273407611272090512012-08-01T14:37:56.303-07:002012-08-01T14:37:56.303-07:00A late last add:
Anybody in L.A. wanna get a look...A late last add:<br /><br />Anybody in L.A. wanna get a look at the magnificent monster film projectors of the golden era Keith refers to, just ride the Los Angeles Red Line subway to the Hollywood and Vine Station and walk upstairs, to where two donated machines (from Paramount) reside in all their steampunk glory.<br /><br />There was another half-dozen rusting in the basement under stages 28-31 when I worked at Paramount a few years ago, which have since been swept away-- somewhere.Chris Vosburgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-84253754522011808362012-08-01T14:35:35.837-07:002012-08-01T14:35:35.837-07:00A late last add:
Anybody in L.A. wanna get a look...A late last add:<br /><br />Anybody in L.A. wanna get a look at the magnificent monster film projectors of the golden era Keith refers to, just ride the Los Angeles Red Line subway to the Hollywood and Vine Station and walk upstairs, to where two donated machines (from Paramount) reside in all their steampunk glory.<br /><br />There was another half-dozen rusting in the basement under stages 28-31 when I worked at Paramount a few years ago, which have since been swept away-- somewhere.Chris Vosburgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-89229547190880881552012-07-31T23:00:36.872-07:002012-07-31T23:00:36.872-07:00Keith, thank you so much for that look into your c...Keith, thank you so much for that look into your childhood, but extra thanks for the "Ferdinand The Bull" short.<br /><br />The first time I ever ordered a book from the Scholastic Book Club (or whatever it was called back when I was in first grade), was <i>Ferdinand the Bull</i> and it came with a little 45 rpm record that told the story. I loved it so much!<br /><br />Thanks for helping me relive a bit of my childhood.maryclevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00785496858123839668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-25314056602538254342012-07-30T11:25:00.166-07:002012-07-30T11:25:00.166-07:00I never knew there was a cartoon adaptation of the...I never knew there was a cartoon adaptation of the book. Thank you for linking to it. <br /><br />The book was (still is) one of my favorite children's stories. It wasn't until I started reading it to my own kids that I noticed that every illustration that's about bull fighting has one or more vultures in it. Now that's some pacifist commentary.Hanknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-50460670295525153762012-07-29T05:57:14.269-07:002012-07-29T05:57:14.269-07:00YOu had the coolest dad, man.YOu had the coolest dad, man.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03664920037425489644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-8338322120247648132012-07-28T22:48:46.245-07:002012-07-28T22:48:46.245-07:00Yeah, Scott, that's fair. There was nothing ov...Yeah, Scott, that's fair. There was nothing overt about "Ferdinand", at least not in the sense that Warner Brothers cartoon division gave us with "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" which I imagine was played just before James Cagney's "Red Sun" in theaters. It was a time of great madness.<br /><br />My only comment was about the genesis of the piece, which the guy who wrote claims was simply a childrens' story.<br /><br />It's worth pointing out that Tolkien says the same thing and look at the hidden agenda they pulled out of his piece.<br /><br />He thought he was just writing a story.Chris Vosburgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-36340607902315199072012-07-28T17:10:16.561-07:002012-07-28T17:10:16.561-07:00It's definitely peddling a pacifist message wh...It's definitely peddling a pacifist message which, as Chris notes, is hardly unusual for children's literature. Nor was it a particularly controversial theme for any medium in the inter-war years. But I wouldn't call it an anti-corrida tract, since Ferdinand's passive resistance is only possible because he's left alone by the tantrum-throwing toreros, rather than getting lanced in the neck by picadors or pierced with banderillas until he looks like an enraged shrimp cocktail.<br /><br />But even though the source material predated the Spanish Civil War, Disney wasn't above inserting a bit of social commentary on occasion, and there wasn't the same widespread assumption back then that popular entertainment should remain staunchly apolitical. In any case, given that Guernica had been bombed a year and a half before the cartoon's release, and the war itself was still dragging on, I bet plenty of <i>viewers</i> made the connection, regardless of what the animators intended.<br /><br />As for whether our hero should be read as an FOD, I'm not really sure. Li'l makes a good point about the dependence on stock characters at the time, but Ferdinand seems rather quiet and oblivious, whereas the actors who played stereotypically "gay" roles in the Thirties seemed to emphasize exasperation and fussiness.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02798340582589737829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-20035973233148346092012-07-28T15:51:34.859-07:002012-07-28T15:51:34.859-07:00As Li'l writes, before Ferdinand underwent the...As Li'l writes, before Ferdinand underwent the Disney treatment, it was a popular children's book by Leaf Munro with illustrations by Robert Lawson, which Wikipedia tells me was published nine months before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.<br /><br />That the book was an advocacy of pacificism is not at issue, like many children's books it was; but whether it was intended to address the Franco situation.<br /><br />It may just as well have been a searing indictment of the cruel nature of bullfighting, which consisted of torturing an animal for hours and then having a matador finish him off after he was so bewildered he could barely stand.<br /><br />Tough guys, huh.Chris Vosburgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-5065465102678999272012-07-28T15:30:48.232-07:002012-07-28T15:30:48.232-07:00I remember this from kidhood. Until now I never dr...I remember this from kidhood. Until now I never dreamed it had anything to do with the Spanish Civil War.<br /><br />It can be hard to know about portrayals of gayness in earlier American pop culture. In some 30s comedies you see little vignettes of haberdashers, headwaiters, etc. that are, to an adult, recognizable humorous asides about effeminate gay men. They're no more marked or emphasized than the ethnic joking of the period was, and apparently offered in the same spirit, as part of a traditional theatrical repertoire of humorous types that were good for a gag. <br /><br />Was Ferdinand the cartoon not aimed at kids? Was it common knowledge among adults at that time that it was a political metaphor? If it was, then it seems unlikely that the studio would have purposely burdened their Loyalist symbol with intimations of unmanliness, even as a for-adults joke. <br /><br />Looking at the original illustrations by Robert Lawson, I think maybe the Disney artists just emphasized the cartoony humor of Ferdinand's sweet, pacific nature being impervious when all around him are going nuts. And being so big and strong, he has no need to even think about being defensive. In many ways they followed Lawson's art pretty closely, as the book was so popular. Lots of interesting historical-cultural stuff to ponder here.Li'l Innocenthttp://ladysmantle.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-55428699211248907102012-07-28T15:22:57.279-07:002012-07-28T15:22:57.279-07:00Keith writes: I still recall the unique smell of ...Keith writes: <i> I still recall the unique smell of the lighting systems from the projectors</i><br /><br />Carbon Arc, yeah? Got to smell a lot of this in the printing industry (both litho platemaking and screen print screenmaking used the carbon arc for exposing the light sensitive emulsion of which both consisted).<br /><br />Yum yum.Chris Vosburgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1776456473941522431.post-51748495205126911902012-07-28T10:52:30.638-07:002012-07-28T10:52:30.638-07:00I love the cartoon.
But my gaybulldar is not mu...I love the cartoon. <br /><br />But my gaybulldar is not much more in tune than the regular one. I suppose Momma Cow is worried about her potential grandcalves...<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.com